# Is "A Prefect's Uncle" by P.G. Wodehouse a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of A Prefect's Uncle by P.G. Wodehouse (Adam & Charles Black, 1903) is identified by: First edition, first issue; a school story, Wodehouse's second book (McIlvaine A2a). UK A & C Black is the true first (11 September 1903); an American edition was issued by Macmillan from imported sheets in October 1903.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first issue; a school story, Wodehouse's second book (McIlvaine A2a)
- Published 11 September 1903 by Adam & Charles Black in pictorial red cloth printed in black, blue and pink and lettered in gilt to the spine, with a frontispiece and seven further plates (eight illustrations in all) by R. Noel Pocock
- The first-issue point is an advertisement for The Pot-Hunters on the verso of the half-title, the title leaf dated 1903, and no terminal advertising supplement as issued
- Publisher imprint reads Adam & Charles Black
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | P.G. Wodehouse |
| Publisher | Adam & Charles Black |
| Year | 1903 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first issue; a school story, Wodehouse's second book (McIlvaine A2a) |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, first issue; a school story, Wodehouse's second book (McIlvaine A2a). Published 11 September 1903 by Adam & Charles Black in pictorial red cloth printed in black, blue and pink and lettered in gilt to the spine, with a frontispiece and seven further plates (eight illustrations in all) by R. Noel Pocock. The first-issue point is an advertisement for The Pot-Hunters on the verso of the half-title, the title leaf dated 1903, and no terminal advertising supplement as issued. Scarce.

## Is this the true first?
UK A & C Black is the true first (11 September 1903); an American edition was issued by Macmillan from imported sheets in October 1903. Later British issues in the same binding can be told from the true first by a bound-in publisher's catalogue that lists Wodehouse's Mike (not published until 1909), which cannot appear in a genuine 1903 first issue.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *A Prefect's Uncle* by P.G. Wodehouse a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/a-prefects-uncle
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.